162 comments:

Had our 2011 benefits review at work this week. Thanks to ObamaCare, employee contributions are up 5% to 50%, deductibles and out of pocket are up 100%. Plus the joy of my HSP no longer covering over-the-counter medication (that being what I've spent almost all of it on to date).

Nothing I hadn't expected, but I think the Republican ticket just gained a few new voters from among my coworkers.

That was the first time that I can remember having seen Michelle with Barack just talking without a set up stage full of theater props surrounding them as they appear separately. Wow! Michelle had a strong presence. She is not being anyone but herself...and that always registers weight. But the weak no-presence seen in Barack contrasted sharply with her persona. Barack must have no practice in being the real man named Barack...he seemed to be only a phony shell man.

Not that I know a lot about that kind of stuff. I wonder what are female commenters think.

I think Mrs. Obama wears wigs. That's not a criticism, it's just an observation.

Many women in politics appear to wear them. Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin seem to appear often in wigs or hair pieces, and Laura Bush occasionally looked like she wore one. (Recall the dust up when Hillary appeared au naturel.)

Palladian...I walked into that one. I meant soul weight...that presence that leaves the body when a person dies. And Michelle would make a great Wrestler or better a Baseball umpire. Who would argue a call with her? And Barack is a perfect ballboy....Oh no , I walked into another one. I meant Barack would do well as a lightweight wrestler or a team owners' inexperienced son counting the ticket money reciepts...One Trillion...Two Trillion etc. and mumbling "got to raise hot dogs to $20 and seats to $500".

I watched this without the sound, and here's how it looked to me: 1) Michele looks great (and I am not ordinarily a big fan of her appearance) -- fresh, glowing, and genuine -- until 0.26 when she turns to look at him and both the glow and the smile vanish completely from her face. 2) He looks awful -- thin, worn, haggard, oddly asymmetrical, and that smile at 1.04 is as false and empty-eyed as any I've ever seen.

Remember back when there was a uproar over John Ashcroft's (alleged) purchase of expensive curtains to shield the bare-breasted sculpture of the Spirit of Justice in the Great Hall of the Justice Department building? I wonder how much it would cost to buy another set to shield these two boobs from the cameras?

Would you care to see a card? I notice the more hieroglyphics I draw by the thousand the more scritch-scratchy everything else becomes. I feel a little bit bad about that. Considering it's a condolence card, I could at least clean it up, but I can't be arsed.

What's with the ridiculously bad production value? Did they run out of lights at the WH? Did no one notice that massive glare reflecting off the President's forehead? Has no one at the WH ever heard of a diffuser?

What's with the terribad shaky camera action... I half expected that Jack-in-the-Box guy to come out from behind the curtains. Did they use a camera phone to shoot this? Even midpriced point-and-shoot cameras have better video and image stabilization than this bullshit.

And for godsakes, take out 10-15 minutes to memorize the fucking lines. It's bad enough when you have one person on camera obviously reading his lines, but when there are two doing it, it's just fucking creepy watching the robotic synchronicity of their eyes roving boustrophodonically, back and forth.

Seriously, the guy who spent money on fake columns during his campaign is reduced to having Gibbs hold a flipcam in the WH basement? WTF?

He at least should have worn a tie. Seriously, it looks like they just decided to put this together in the previous five minutes.

Sorry if I got a bit rant-y. It's just jarring to see the leader of the free world like this. It's one thing when the President is caught being goofily human or average at a live event or a candid moment. It's another to see him like this in a video that he intentionally and officially releases. This is the kind of video I expect to see from some two-bit third-world leader in NowhereStan, not the President of the fucking United States of America.

Get a fucking tripod. Get some fucking lighting. Pull the shot out and put them on a couch or something (the tight shot is extremely clautrophobic with two people). Wear a tie. Michelle should dress a little better too. And fucking memorize the lines so you don't look like there's a four-player game of Pong playing in your eye-sockets.

It's actually a very crappy touch. There's a reason image stabilization is becoming pretty standard in most still and DV cameras and why we don't see too many Blair Witch-type movies:

The effect isn't "realistic" at all because that's not how people see. Our eyes and brains conduct a form of natural image stabilization. This is why our vision doesn't jerk all over the place when we're walking down the street.

Combine the shaky-cam effect with standard 30fps video and this is what you get, a "realistic" effect that approximates what you'd see through repeated smacks to the head with a baseball bat.

Notice how much free time Obama has. It's remarkable. I first really paid attention to it during the healthcare extravaganza. It was like Obama really had nothing else to do. As long as it took - he had the time - and then some more time. Nothing else mattered - even though gravely important things were happening in our world.

Same now. Gravely important things developing in our world and Obama takes a month off to campaign. Then he'll go back to parties, golf, ball games and vacations...

Yep, Obama's approval ratings have plunged 4 percentage points in 52 weeks, and Democrats will win the Senate for the 5th straight year, and in the House well, we just don't know yet. I'd say the People Have Spoken.

I like the "about our future and our children's future" bit by Michelle; she was obviously speaking about the difference in Barack-daddy's future earning capacity on the public speaking trail as a failed one-termer or even-mediocre two-termer.

I look forward to his going away for a spell after the election. We deserve a break from his annoying as hell diction.

Yep, Obama's approval ratings have plunged 4 percentage points in 52 weeks, and Democrats will win the Senate for the 5th straight year, and in the House well, we just don't know yet. I'd say the People Have Spoken.

Yep, Obama's approval ratings have plunged 4 percentage points in 52 weeks, and Democrats will win the Senate for the 5th straight year, and in the House well, we just don't know yet. I'd say the People Have Spoken.

Barry's polling in the low 40s and it's up for grabs who gets the Senate with the Demos set to lose 8 - 10 seats. Last I looked 2006 was 4 years ago, not 5, and even Gibbs figures the House is lost.

The Independants I know who voted for Obama told me in 2008 he was really a moderate. And they believed it. I argued the point with Obama's own words. They told me he just had to say those things to get elected, that he didn't really mean them.

When I talk to them now, they're not happy Obama turned out to be as leftist as he did. So, yes, knowing what they know now, they would choose McCain on a do-over.

And based on the polling, it's obvious that McCain would win on a do-over.

I don't really care about it, but she's very attractive and I don't get the animus towards her. She's a typical limo lib jerk, telling the peasants they can't live the way Michelle needs to live... oh well. I'm sure Jackie O was just as ridiculous.

But what's interesting is the peculiar way she appears to loath her spouse. That's not phoney. It's very rare to see them together like this, and the reason appears to be some kind of underlying drama.

Obama looks unhealthy. He needs to quit smoking, and if he's using cocaine still, he needs to stop. I'm not saying that in some partisan dig on him... I really hope he's not on drugs anymore.

Garage -- I have told you what I am about to tell you many times. I'm going to say it again, hopefully for the last time, in big, bold, capital fucking letters and using simple words to help you remember:

NO CONSERVATIVES OR LIBERTARIANS WERE EXCITED TO VOTE FOR MCCAIN/PALIN.

It was going through the motions. Christ, man. I don't bring up John Kerry as some kind of salient point. Why don't you dig up Bob Dole?

This is so pathetic it's actually starting to get sad--he is in so far over his head he has already drowned--I predict nervous breakdown before the four years are up--he's never even had a paper-route before.

Yea they have. Obama is still President for at least two more years. The Senate will remain as it is. And the House will be decided in a few weeks. The People Have Spoken.

Garage, you continue to surprise me with the lengths you'll go to delude yourself. I'm sure Clinton woke up after election day, 1994, and said "Well, I'm still President. The People Have Spoken." What about Bush in 2006, "I'm still President. The People Have Spoken." Seriously, say that shit with a straight face.

Do you think that even if the Democrats *only* manage to lose the House they're going to proclaim victory and a mandate? Shit, I thought you guys were part of the "reality-based community."

Grand Inquisitor: I'm with you about the First Lady. I don't get the animus and cruelty against her. I don't really see what she's done to deserve the cattiness and vitriol.

Wow, that's the first time I've ever seen "boustrophodonically" in a blog comment. (Well, the first time ever anywhere, really, since it's actually spelled boustrophedonically, but you get what I mean... And you, a Greek major!)

M. -- I hesitated to put Palin in the words McCain/Palin, as I know she does create much excitement in a significant percentage of conservatives and libertarians (though not me). The point is that McCain excited no one. I think we can all agree on that.

You know, almost every time I see a pic of Michelle I can't help but think, "That is one pissed-off woman."

Don't know if she's mad at Bar for not following through on the promised revival of Camelot-on-the-Potomac (and him knowing how badly she wanted the "Jackie" role). Is she furious at conservatives, those bitter, gun-clinging, McDonald's-scarfing conservatives, for upsetting the wa of Team Obama? Maybe Malia's weekly weigh-in and BMI indexing was not what Michelle had ordered. Or does she just have a hard-on for the world in general because the First Lady gig is not working out to be the sweet ride she had planned?

I'm kinda partial to the last one, because this summer she seemed to actually be surprised when the First Lady's Daily Polls showed the public was livid over her taxpayer-funded uber-luxurious continental vacation for herself and 40 of her BFFs. That racist - and scared - public.

Guess it doesn't really matter to Barry O what she's mad about, just that she's mad about something. Because when Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. And the White House isn't really all that big. You think it's a coincidence that Big O had almost 60 golfing outings in the past 22 months?!

Don't you remember "this is the first time I've been proud of this country"? She deserves all the contempt she receives, and much more.

So? People say stupid shit all the time. Imagine being under the spotlight 24/7 and having everything you say dissected under a microscope.

The ridiculous armchair psychoanalysis of public figures is asinine because you're trying to detect some sekrit evil inside by reading newspaper articles and blogs. People do it to Sarah Palin just as they do it to Michelle Obama. Just who the hell knows what's in the heart of hearts of Michelle Obama? Does anyone outside of her close friends and family know that? We're just a bunch of people weighing in on the internet. Politics is the stuff of ideas and facts, this shit about whether Michelle Obama loves America--that's just trash, the stuff of backalley gossip. Same with the stuff about whether Obama is some double dog dare sekrit Muslim Mohammedan Candidate who wasn't born in Hawaii. Useless.

I would like to reassure the Obamas that I am very fired up for the election this year. He doesn't need to worry about that. I also agree that it's a very important time to consider the well-being of our children.

This November I am voting for CHANGE -- change from 10% unemployment and out of control spending.

Also I think it's hilarious that they read this whole thing off a teleprompter. You can even watch her read the words while he is speaking.

This is the first time that I find myself in complete agreement with our President. We need to stay fired up through the election and help get out the vote. I'm not so sure he intended to encourage a Republican. Maybe just an another unintended consequence.

Seems to me that the role of a First Spouse is to convince everybody that the President is a regular guy/gal, decent enough in private life for someone to marry. Unfortunately, Mrs. Obama, like Mrs. (Rodham-)Clinton, just seems like one of those people who, if they lived in my neighborhood, I'd probably never get beyond the head-nod-in-the-car stage with. They just don't personally appeal to me.

But I have to say, I too wonder about the vitriol. It seems to me that only Mrs. Reagan awoke such rhetoric in the other side of the aisle. Is it because Republican FLOTI (yeah, I know, it should be FLOTAE, right?) do a better job of at least simulating traditional gender roles? Or are they genuinely more likeable? (The possibility that the other side is actually nicer doesn't really hold much water with me, based on their actions toward everybody else who isn't in public office, as well as the guy at the top.)

But I have to say, I too wonder about the vitriol. It seems to me that only Mrs. Reagan awoke such rhetoric in the other side of the aisle

I don't know about Mrs. Reagan, since I really wasn't paying that much attention to her at the time.

However, the vitrol, at least my perception of it.

1. These are the most disengenous, fake, lying, hypocritical people that I can ever remember in public office.

2. They spend much of their time intruding into our lives. Telling us how to live, what to eat. While at the same time they don't do any of the things they want to impose on the rest of us.

3. It is quite quite clear that they don't LIKE the United States. They don't like the people of the country, the traditions, the history....ANYTHING. They do not respect the people and they do not respect the position of President or First Lady.

Other than the fact that they are destroying this country and partying like the Court of Louis the XIV......

Mostly....I get the impression that they just don't care about anything other than themselves and about power. I get the impression that they are vindictive and WANT to punish people for percieved past wrongs. I KNOW that they are Socialists if not out and out Marxists.

Another part of the animus is the blacklash against a corrupt media that allowed these awful people to be foisted upon us. The meme that this was the second coming of the Kennedy Camelot era (which wasn't all that wonderful anyway) that Michelle is some sort of beautiful fashion icon, that we should all be falling down in worship of the first Black President.......all foisted on us by lies, smoke and mirrors.

The sad thing about this particular president is that his performance will probably result in a wide spread (subliminal) rejection of any COMPETENT black candidate for the next 30 years. And there are a host of competent black politicians out there.

You ask a stupid question, and then get an (obvious and) intelligent answer, only to come back with "So? People say stupid shit all the time."?

Two things:

1) When "people say stupid shit all the time" we call them stupid and tend not to like listening to them or attempting to discuss important matters with them.

Whatever, Crack. I didn't ask a question about Michelle Obama. I simply made a statement that I don't get the vitriol, to which another commenter responded with the 'proud of America' bit.

I tend not to listen to Michelle Obama in the first place because she's just the spouse of the President. She has no role in the public policy of this nation (unless you want to count the inevitable First Lady pet projects).

But that's different from hating her because of some off-handed comment she made at one point during a political campaign. You can dislike a politician or even hate him, because his beliefs and actions are fodder for the political discourse. They are in the public sphere, they are the res of the publica, civitas, polis.

But the spouse? Please. People who do this are drumming up hate and dislike because it conforms to what they think about the President himself. Our actual exposure to the First Lady is so laughably slight that trying to discern whether she actually hates her country in her heart of hearts is just fucking retarded. We know more about Ann Althouse's inner thoughts than Michelle Obama's.

Well, Crack, I was going to let your reply stand for mine. But then I thought a bit more and it seemed a bit harsh, especially if Blue is somewhat of a newcomer here.

So let my try again:

Sorry, Blue, but her statement was a complete slap in the face to every single American who has helped to make this country worthwhile. I can guarantee you that, if I said something that awful in public, just by accident, you can bet I'd be falling all over myself trying to retract it. Wouldn't you?

And no, the animosity is not just based on that one statement--don't you remember that "Obama will not let you stay as you are" crap?

------------------------------

Perhaps I should reiterate here who my genuine heroine among political spouses is--the wife of Howard Dean. (See, I can't even remember her name, isn't that wonderful.) When asked why she wasn't on the campaign trail with Howard, she replied, in effect, "Because I have a job, and I'd rather keep doing it." Bravo ^ 10!

Ms. Obama is getting this crap because she herself chose to campaign and insert herself into the public discourse.